Practice For Us Blog

We cannot master something we have not studied. Seems obvious–however, there are people who believe they are experts when in fact they are just beginners. Do not get me wrong: I love being a beginner and I love beginners. I am speaking about beginners who believe they are knowledgeable. We need to know where we are and move from there. …

For Americans, today is Thanksgiving. What are we as Americans to be thankful for? We can be thankful that we can choose to practice looking into our Hearts and out at the World simultaneously. We can be thankful that we choose to see God immanent and transcendent. We can be thankful that we can practice seeing God in each other. …

Passive is not neutral. Have you ever been with someone who is passive? Did you feel neutral, still and peaceful around them? Or were you the counter point, feeling agitated and annoyed? Passive IS NOT neutral.

The Philokalia fills us with the reminder that century after century the practice has been shared. And century after century few listen. That does not mean it is not true or valid. If we all practiced there would be no Hell, the game would be over. Then what would we do? Let us find out. As the desert fathers practiced: …

This week the practice moves through the emotions. Own all of them by truly accepting you have ALL emotions. We must break them down into subtle parts. We don’t just have anger; we have rage, irritation, agitation, or some other subset of anger. Our job is to know and recognize what our vehicles are doing. We practice by being with …